Improvement in grates for furnaces



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

THOMAS T. HOLDSWORTH, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN GRATES FOR FURNACES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 39,573, dated August1S, 1863.

To all whom it may concern..-

Beit known that I, THos. T. HoLDswoRTH. of Brooklyn, in the county ofKings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Furnace Grates; and I do hereby declare that the following` is afull, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, inwhich- Figure 1 represents a plan or top view of my invention. Fig. 2 isa longitudinal verticalrsectiion of the same.

Similar letters of reference in the two tigures indicate correspondingparts.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe it.

A A represent a series of grate-bars, which are placed side by side inthe furnace B under a steam-boiler, or in anyother place where a furnaceis required. The bars A cx tend from one end ef the furnace to theother, so that they can be lifted out in the ordinary manner whenever itis desired, but they cannot be moved in a longitudinal direction. Thealternate bars A are supported at one end of the furnace by a stationarycross-bar, G, and

at the other by the rock-shaft D, from which cams a extend upward tocatch into notches b at the lower edges of the said grate-bars. Ahand-lever, E, serves to impart an oscillating motion to the roeklshaftD, and the cams i a are brought in such relation to the notches b thatthey do not lift the bars, but simply impart to them a reciprocatingvertilinear motion between the stationary bars A'. The ends of the barsA are guided between the endsrof the bars A, and they are made so narrowthat the spaces between the ends of the bars A are equal to theair-spaces between the adjoining bars A A', and consequently no coal canget through which could not get through between the bars. The upperedges of the bars A A are provided with teeth c, and the bars are `madethin and wide in the middle to prevent them from warping.

When it is desired to clean the re, a reciprocating vertilinear motionis imparted to the bars A', and by the action of the teeth the coals areturned over and over and the fire is cleaned most ett'ectually from alldust, ashes, and small clinkers, and thereby the most pei fectcombustion is produced and steam generated more rapidly and economicallythan with any other grate now in use. The teeth passing each otherbackward and forward cut any clinker that may be fast to one of thebars, and if the coal is thrown indit'terently into the furnace by usingthe handlever afterward it distributes the coal to one thicknessthroughout the furnace, which equalizes the heat throughout the furnaceand prevents the boilers from unequal expansion, which is the cause ofmany boilers leaking. ihen the grate-bars receive a lifting oscillatingmotion alternately at one end, then at the otherthe coals are all throwntoward the center,leav ing the back and front ends bare, which wouldcause unequal expansion of the boilers and allow the cold air to passthrough, so as cool the flue and lower the steam. Furthermore, if thebars receive a lifting motion, a clinker might get at the end or betweenthem. The bar has then only its own weight to bring itself down again,which it could not do with a hard clinker, and its edge would thusproject above the surface ofthe remaining gratebars, and thereby beliable to burn oft'.

lMy bars have a positive motion both ways, and by cutting the movablebars down in a sloping direction and making the iianges of i,

the stationary bars of such a width that the spaces between them are notlarger than the air-spaces between the bars, the coals rest on theseflanges and the ends of the moving bars pass u-nder withoutinterruption.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The arrangement of the shaft D, cams a, and lever E with the alternatetoothed bars, in the manner herein shown and described, so as to producethe motion upon said alternate bars in connection with the teeth, all asset forth.

THOS. T. HOLDSWORTH.

Witnesses:

RoBT. H. LoUDER, M. M. LIvINGsroN.

